If being able to do 100 push ups is important to me then I’ll find the time in my schedule for it, even when it’s inconvenient and even if it means I have half an hour less to knit.

When I started the 100 push up challenge, I couldn’t do a full push up so I’ve been doing modified push ups for my challenge.  It’s taken me two months but now I can do 5 full “man type” push ups and a whole lot more modified push ups than before. That might not seem like much progress for nearly two months of working out, but I’ve NEVER been able to do a full push up.

Being sedentary feeds on itself. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. We get wrapped up in the latest chatter on Ravelry so we don’t make time to stay healthy. We forget how good it feels to move a little, push ourselves a little, sweat a little.

A body in motion tends to stay in motion. Pretty soon you’ll be feeling nice and sweet and sassy! Just ask King Julian.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_r2psdrQkM

I went ahead and soaked the Eris cardigan on the off chance that I could even up the color variation a little. Nope. Despite the water turning deep red each time I soaked the sweater, there’s no change in the color. So the only solution is to rip and knit again. I have plenty of yarn, assuming it matches the rest of the sweater. Since the bottom is all short rows I can’t imagine alternating two balls of yarn while also tracking the short rows and then the cables and hem.

Because I don’t have the heart to rip it out just now, I’ve started a new shawl. It’s the Labyrinth Lace Shawl from Evelyn Clark Designs. I’m using a fingering weight yarn that I purchased from a friend. I know it’s merino and there’s more than 2000 yards and it’s deep red and that’s all I know. This is most of chart one.

Here’s part of the description from the Evelyn Clark website:

The shawl is diamond shaped with no repeats, so the instructions are 25 pages long, which includes 9 pages of charts. Pages for 3 of the 5 charts must be joined due to the length of the rows. While the lace is not difficult, the pattern is challenging since each of the 460 rows must be read. Not for the fainthearted, this design produces a portable labyrinth that has become my favorite travel accessory.

Unlike a maze that is designed to confuse, a labyrinth is a symbol for a successful journey. The path is not direct, and when it appears to stray, it still leads to the goal. On this reversible garter stitch lace shawl, the labyrinth’s path can be traced to the center and back out again.

The shawl is diamond shaped and has a leafy border with small flowers at the four corners and a larger one at the center. Picots can be knit at the edges, or they can be left plain.

This description makes it sound more intimidating than it is. Yes, you have to read every row, but it’s not a complicated pattern. There are large fields of plain knit between the lace elements and since it’s garter stitch, every other row is plain knit.

The biggest obstacle will be having to work with multiple charts for each row, but I’ll try to figure out short cuts when I get there.

Or maybe I just find it easier since I’m using a fingering weight yarn instead of my normal lace weight. It certainly makes a heavier shawl. It’s a departure for me and I expect I’ll be casting on for another shawl in a lighter weight yarn as soon as I have the time.

100 push ups challenge update

I’ve finished week three and made real progress. I’m now using the middle column rather than the highest tier. The first day I couldn’t meet the totals without struggling and actually fell short of the requirements for day 2. But I met my goals for day 3 with a series of 25/19/19/17/22 for a total of 102 push ups. Later today I’ll start week four and if I can hit the requirements than I’ll proceed. Otherwise, I’ll repeat week three. It’s all good. I’m definitely getting stronger and as long as I see progress each week that’s fine by me.

It was a good decision.

Yesterday I completed week two with a ladder of 15/15/12/12/20 for a total of 74 push ups. I had to rest more than two minutes before I did the last step but otherwise not a problem. My form on the last couple of push ups was pretty ugly, but I got it done. In contrast, two weeks ago I barely completed 44 push ups with a note that says “Hard!”

My arms and shoulders ache for a while after the work out. There’s still a lot of push ups ahead of me and the numbers really add up starting next week. On Saturday, I’ll retest and see how much progress I’ve made since my last test.

If all this is Greek to you, visit the link above or check out my 100 push category in the sidebar to follow my progress since I started the challenge to complete 100 push ups in a row.

Everybody is talking about how great their gardens are this year and it shows at the market. Corn season is in full swing and tomatoes are piled high. Cucumbers and melon are sweet and cool and the summer apples are just beginning to show up. Last year we had no peaches because of the late freeze that killed all the fruit crops. This year, there are at least 3 farmers with local peaches. Fresh eggs are always available and there are several vendors selling pasture raised beef, pigs and chickens.

Even though we’ll have a hard time eating it all, I bought tons of tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, baby squash, zucchini, summer cabbage, an orange pepper, half a dozen ears of sweet corn, a cantalope, peaches, cucumbers and onions. We had some of the tomatoes and cucumbers for lunch along with a bean and cheese quesadilla and honey zucchini bars I made after I came home from the market (recipe in my next post). I don’t know what we’re having for dinner yet, but it’ll include lots of fresh veggies!

Hundred push up challenge update.

I started my second round of week two this morning. I’m glad I decided to repeat the first two weeks at the higher level. I knew I wasn’t ready to move on to week three and this higher level is a lot harder. I think it’s just beginning to sink in that 100 push ups in a row is a lot for someone who could only manage 6 a month ago, even with 6 weeks training.

Steve Speirs, the creator of the Hundred Push Ups web site sent an e-mail this week indicating he’s repeating week 5 of the program, so it’s encouraging to know others find the training difficult. And he’s added a page to the website listing challengers who have successfully “done the hundred”. So far there are two, but someday, Kim and Ian and Lori and I will be on that page!

Push ups. Deciding to drop back to week one of the push up challenge was a good idea. I started over this morning using the highest series of 10/10/8/6/7 and could tell that it was a work out. Not only were my arms a little shaky but I could feel it in my shoulders, back and abs. I missed the every other day routine while we were traveling and I think that might have had an impact. I’m still determined to see this through and will be happy with whatever result I get at the end of the next 6 weeks.

Garden update. Ms Tomato P is popping tomatoes like she knows what she’s doing. I’ve been keeping her roots nice and damp and so far no signs of pests or disease. So maybe by frost we’ll have a tomato or two.

The basil, parsley and other herbs are thriving as are E’s scented geraniums. Even the spider plant that I repotted this spring looks like it’s thriving in its spot under the awning.

The rest of the garden has entered the mid-summer doldrums during which everything is green, but not much is blooming. I need to weed the middle section again and consider whether this is the year to pull up some of the perennials that haven’t done well for the past few years. My little patch blooms well in spring and fall, but come the summer it fails to live up to its promise.

The autumn joy sedums are taking over their corner, as are the asters so I know the fall will be colorful. As always, the sweet autumn clematis is twining it’s way up the trellis; it always amazes me that I can cut it to the ground in early spring and by August it’s grown 12 feet high and 10 feet wide. In another month it’ll be taking over the deck railings and flower boxes and will be covered in white star flowers.

Knitting. I’ve got the second pair of mittens out of the Harrisville Highland almost done and I’m in the middle of figuring out what to start next. I’ve been looking at patterns and pulling yarn from the bins to come up with a combination that speaks to me. Hopefully something will jell over the weekend before the yarn sitting all over gets out of control. It’s always fun to go stash-diving and come up with new ideas for sweaters or shawls but it sure makes a mess.

And I’ve finished Hanami. That’s a woo and hoo. It’s blocking right now so there will be pictures Monday. Perhaps I’ll swatch the wedding ring shawl next. Definitely need to get something lacey going.

And that’s the fry-up for the week, whatever is handy for a Friday afternoon. Enjoy your weekend.

But an hour and some Advil later I decided to give it a try. After some warm up to loosen the still creaky muscles, I unrolled my yoga mat and got at it.

I started this challenge around July 1 and the best I could do then was 6 modified push ups.

Today I did 17 modified push ups, which is a big improvement in just a few weeks. 17 is a good number. I tried to figure out the percentage improvement but my brain won’t let me. It’s better than 15. Much better than 6. Less than 20 which would have been nice, but the last two push ups weren’t really good form so I knew even if I’d kept at it, I’d be cheating to say I made it to 20. Those 17 were tough, whether it’s because I feel foggy and crappy this morning or because that’s all I really can do.

Then I looked at the week 3 chart and saw the number of push ups called for. And said something that wasn’t “Oh, super”. It’s a lot. We’re now into double digits at each level. By the third session, I’m supposed to do 78 push ups over 5 levels.

I don’t think so.

Is there such a thing as push up remedial boot camp? A do-over?

If not, I’m inventing it. Tomorrow I’m going back to week one and redo the last two weeks using the column for “more than 10 push ups” instead of the puny “up to 5 push ups”. That still puts me on track to finish the challenge this summer and consider if I want to do it all over again, but with full push ups — like some of you are doing (show offs/I’m so jealous).

So how are you doing? Did you take the week 3 test or did you crap out after week 1? Give me a shout and let me know how the muscle-building is going.

Meanwhile, I’m gong to hit the Advil bottle again. Damn headache.

Huzzah to everyone participating in the 100 push ups challenge! In 6 weeks we’ll astound and amaze our friends as we show off those pecs. Wait, that’s the wrong body part. Biceps! That’s the ticket.

So I did the second day of push ups today and did a total of 20 in tiers of 4/3/3/2 and 6 (this would be rank 1) which was plenty for me. 

While I was taking my first 90 second rest I wondered if there wasn’t something else I could be doing besides picking my toes. Something that would still allowed my arms to recover from their noodleness. Then I remembered squats from my days of being an active gym-goer. And the ball that’s been hibernating in the basement.  

Did you know you can do 15 wall squats in 90 seconds?

From there it was a short leap to doing lunges (10 on each leg in 90 seconds) during the next rest period.

I’m afraid you know what’s coming next.

Ayup.

Crunches.

And I hate those. But I did them. I lost track of how many but I’ll count next time.

And look: Friday there are 120 seconds between levels so there’s more time for more squats, more lunges and more crunches. Oh joy.

All of a sudden I’ve developed an exercise routine for building core strength. The whole process took less than 15 minutes and I don’t have to drive anywhere or buy anything or join a gym. My kind of simplicity. 

As we go along over the next 6 weeks, I’ll do short posts about my progress. Feel free to check in and add your comments whenever, but at least once a week let us know how you’re doing. I also have a button back to the original site that I’ll add to the sidebar later on today.

Now, excuse me while I go rest.

I like simple. I like a challenge. I could use a little more upper body strength. And I like doing push ups:  I don’t need to go to a gym or buy anything to do them, they’re fast and they work a lot of muscles including your arms, shoulders and abs. What’s not to love? 

I decided to take the test yesterday to determine my starting level. 

Oh oh.

Um.

It appears I like the idea of push ups more than I like actually doing them. 

I can’t do a full push up.  Not a single solitary sorry one. It was a toss-up which part of my body sent the fastest, loudest message to my brain that I should rethink this whole misbegotten idea. What a disgrace.

So, OK, it’s not all bad. I can do modified push ups – 6 of them in fact. Heh. So my progessive training program will involve working up from embarrassing to underwhelming to acceptable. Miracles have happened before.

Anybody care to join me in this torture?